William Edward BaxterPolitician

William Edward Baxter (1825 – 10 August 1890) was a Scottish businessman, Liberal politician and travel writer.
Born in Dundee, Angus, Baxter was educated at the High School of Dundee and Edinburgh University. He was the son of Edward Baxter, a benefactor and reformer who had opposed the corn laws. He became a partner in his father's firm of Edward Baxter & Co. (afterwards W. E. Baxter & Co.).
Baxter was Liberal Member of Parliament for Montrose Burghs from 1855 to 1885, and served under William Ewart Gladstone as Secretary to the Admiralty from 1868 to 1871 and as Financial Secretary to the Treasury from 1871 to 1873. He was appointed a Privy Counsellor in 1873. He was also President of the first day of the 1883 Co-operative Congress.
He retired from Parliament in 1885. When the Liberal Party split over the issue of Irish Home Rule in 1886, Baxter supported the Unionist faction until his death.
William Edward Baxter was the grandson of William Baxter, the founder of the Baxter Brothers textile business. His uncle, Sir David Baxter, was a noted businessman and philanthropist and his aunt, Mary Ann Baxter was the co-founder of University College, Dundee.
W. E.

Personal details

Date of birth

1825

Nationality

United Kingdom

Date of death

August 10th, 1890 at age of 65

Education

1. High School of Dundee Independent school

The High School of Dundee is an independent, co-educational, day school in Dundee, Scotland which provides both primary and secondary education to just over one thousand pupils. Its foundation has been dated to 1239, and it is the sole private school in Dundee.

2. University of Edinburgh Colleges/University

The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university. Edinburgh receives approximately 47,000 applications every year, making it the third most popular university in the UK by volume of applicants. Entrance is intensely competitive, with 12 applications per place in the last admissions cycle. It was the fourth university to be established in Scotland and the 6th in the United Kingdom, and is regarded as one of the most prestigious universities in the world. The university is ranked the top rated in Scotland and the 6th and 7th in Europe according to the 2011 QS and Times Higher Education Ranking Globally, the 2011 QS rankings placed the university 20th in the world. It is the only Scottish university to be a member of both the elite Russell Group, and the League of European Research Universities, a consortium of 21 of Europe's most prominent and renowned research universities.

Political engagements

Scottish Liberal Party

Ideology

Liberalism

Social liberalism

Wikipedia article

The Scottish Liberal Party was the dominant political party of Victorian Scotland, and although its importance declined with the rise of the Labour and Unionist parties during the 20th century, it was still a significant force when it finally merged with the Social Democratic Party in Scotland, to form the Scottish Liberal Democrats in 1988. The party reached its low point during the 1950s, when Jo Grimond was the sole Scottish Liberal MP in the House of Commons, but it gained a partial revival in the 1964 general election when it gained three further MPs, George Mackie, Russell Johnston and Alasdair Mackenzie. A further gain came the following year with David Steel's victory at the Roxburgh, Selkirk and Peebles by-election. Steel went on to become a pivotal figure in the development of Scottish devolution, in partnership with John Smith, Donald Dewar and other key Labour and Liberal figures.

Liberal Party

Geographic scope

United Kingdom

Ideology

Liberalism

Social liberalism

Wikipedia article

The Liberal Party was a liberal political movement that formed one of the two major political parties in the United Kingdom during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Its influence then waned, but not before it had moved toward social liberalism and introduced important elements of Britain's welfare state. The party arose from an alliance of Whigs and free-trade Peelites and Radicals during the 1850s. By the end of the nineteenth century, it had formed four governments under William Gladstone – one of the party's most significant leaders – although they were punctuated by heavy election defeats. Despite becoming divided over the issue of Irish Home Rule, the party returned to power in 1906 with a landslide victory and, between then and the onset of World War I, Liberal governments oversaw the welfare reforms that created a basic British welfare state. During this time, the party's other two most significant leaders came to the fore: H. H. Asquith, Prime Minister between 1908 and 1916; and David Lloyd George, who followed Asquith as Prime Minister for the rest of World War I and thereafter until 1922.